What is Provenance and why does it matter to the art world?

One of the most important innovations of digital art has been the emergence of digital provenance through Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and blockchain technology. 

Streamlining how information of ownership and creatorship is shared, maintained, and stored, NFT-based provenance has ensured a deeper level of security for IP rights and the legacy of artists. 

What does provenance mean and why is it important?

The word provenance is an appropriation of the French word provenir, which describes the origins or earliest known history of artworks and antiques. 

Provenance contains a body of information that verifies an artwork's creator, legal ownership, date, subject matter, and transaction history.

In the context of the art marketplace, this information is indispensable. 

Ensuring legality and intellectual property rights, this notion guarantees that artists are rewarded and acknowledged for their wider body of work. 

Illustrating the historical and geographic context that an artwork resides in, this information is not only a reflection of its artistic influences but its impact on the broader work of other artists. 

Simultaneously acknowledging the creatorship of art affirms that the artist is as intrinsic to the value of the artwork as the piece itself.

How has provenance been recorded in the past?

Historically the provenance of traditional art has been an array of disjointed, individualised, and inconsistently maintained documents, produced by multiple parties. 

For an individual artwork, this information can come from a range of sources including paper documents, auction sales or gallery catalogues, inventory numbers on paintings themselves, and even verbal confirmations.

The reality of art provenance is an inefficient and unreliable system

With provenance largely written at the point of sale or even relayed through oral communication, many artworks lack a holistic, unified chain of information. 

Across secondary markets, that information is commonly not upheld or lost as it may not be valuable information at the time of resale. 

The product of this system is a constant threat to provenance as producing accurate artwork history relies on owners safely maintaining and compiling the wider complete body of art documentation.

Why is blockchain-based provenance an essential development for art?

Art evolves in movements. The historical context of artwork is immensely important because of how artworks are defined by culture, and vice versa, how artworks imprint on the wider cultural milieu.

Without a reliable, efficient, and verifiable system to show provenance, the legacy of artists and their artworks are vulnerable to fraud and illicit sales. 

Cases like Tatiana Khan, an LA-based art dealer, who in 2008 sold a counterfeit Picasso pastel for $US 2 million, show the unfortunate pitfalls of this system.

NFT-based digital art is a crucial innovation for the future

While digital art shares many of the same threats as traditional art, the ability to store provenance through blockchain on an immutable, de-centralised, secure, publicly accessible digital ledger and maintains that history cannot be overstated. 

Digital art transactions traded through cryptocurrency or NFTs are recorded automatically on the blockchain and live on the ledger forever. 

Collecting and streamlining information on art ownership and creatorship, this evolution in provenance helps secure the value of artworks and the wider legacy of artists.

Preserving the wider historical context that artworks live in, provenance on the blockchain is creating a more efficient and rewarding marketplace for artists and consumers. 

Words by Cam Thach. Thumbnail is ‘LUSCUS’ by James McGrath.